GUWAHATI: Two MLAs of the ruling BJP in Tripura resigned from the Assembly as well as the party after falling out with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
Sudip Roy Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha submitted their resignation letters to the Assembly Speaker and state president of the party. Another rebel MLA Ashis Das had quit the party last year and joined the Trinamool Congress but he was disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law.
Roy Barman, who is a former minister, slammed Deb, describing him as “autocratic”. He said he and Saha quit the BJP as they were unable to work for the people.
“The BJP government has failed miserably. It has unleashed a reign of terror and people are in distress,” Roy Barman told reporters prior to leaving for Delhi along with Saha.
Speculations are rife in Tripura that the duo would meet Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, and join the party. Roy Barman had started his political career in the Congress.
The BJP said the departure of the duo would not cause any constitutional crisis in the state.
“It was expected. They were openly criticising the CM and other party leaders. Their resignation is not important for BJP,” party’s state spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee said.
A section of BJP leaders, led by Roy Barman, had met the party’s central leaders several times in the past two years and apprised them of “misgovernance and Deb’s alleged autocratic style of functioning.
BJP’s several central leaders had visited the state in due course but failed to douse the flames of rebellion. Trouble started brewing when Roy Barman was sacked as a minister in May 2019 following his differences with the CM.
The BJP had wrested power from the Left Front in 2018 by winning 36 of the 60 seats. Its ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura has eight MLAs.